False Positive Drug Tests Too Damn Common

I'm drug tested every few monts due to taking an ADHD medication (urinalysis via those 12-panel cup tests).  I don't mind this as it's just "one of those things"--a ridiculous hoop you have to jump through to receive treatment for an illness nobody asks for.  But what I DO mind is the fact that these in-office tests are wrong as often as they are right, giving false-positives for street drugs like MDMA that I've either never taken or haven't taken in decades.  This has happened a total of 5 times now.  FIVE FUCKING TIMES.  It happens every time I don't need to pee and my urine is not diluted to high hell.  Yet they claim that diluted urine is a sign of trying to "cheat" the test.  😡

Thankfully my doctor pays for the lab confirmation tests, which he has told me aren't cheap.  But people forced to take these tests for legal reasons (parole, probation, drug court, etc) often have to pay out of pocket and are punished in the meantime, which is absolutely disgusting and unfair.  I failed the first surprise drug test so I've been extremely careful not to mess up again, as that first one was my only "get out of jail free" card.  Any more screw-ups and my meds will be cut off.  So every time I get a false positive now, even though I know I didn't take Ecstasy or benzos or whatever, it still gives me anxiety because I take so many over-the-counter supplements.  What if one of them is adulterated?  It wouldn't be the first time.  Not only that, my mother has used these bunk drug tests as an excuse to call me a drug addict, which is always on the tip of her tongue anyway due to the Adderall.  All this amounts to more unnecessary stress I don't need.  (Again, my doctor is super chill and doesn't make me wait until the lab test comes back to go ahead and give me my meds so props to him for that.  It's a hoop HE has to jump through as well due to DEA bullshit so I don't blame him).  

And these bunk, useless tests don't even always find drugs that ARE in your system because I've had false NEGATIVES as well.  Barbiturates are one of the few drugs that stick around in your system for a month or more like THC, yet the 12-panel piss test failed to detect butalbital in my urine the morning after I took 1 pill containing 50mg the previous night, less than 10 hours prior.  This was one of the times where I popped false-positive for benzos, so maybe it mischaracterized the barb as a benzo, but that's not okay because I have a prescription for butalbital and not for benzos.  So it was yet another false positive that had to be sent off to the lab.

You sure about that?

Getting Rich Off a Faulty Product

The fact that the drug testing industry is a multi-billion dollar per year industry ($7.6 billion in 2023) is the killing part.  If these greedy bastards can't come up with a more scientifically accurate, reliable method of determining what substances are in your bodily fluids, they should hang it up and call it a day.  Why aren't these tests FDA regulated for accuracy?  Or does the FDA regulate them but just not care what the false-positive rate is & how the fallout affects those who are forced against their will to take these tests?  Sounds like the perfect setup for a class action lawsuit to me, at least if this country ever comes to its senses regarding drug laws.  These companies shouldn't be raking in billions when the product they push is faulty as fuck.  Last time I checked, there aren't any "black box warning" type disclaimers that warn users of the false-positive rate, or state that people taking multiple medications/supplements & have concentrated urine are likely to fail.  That needs to change if these tests are going to remain on the market.

Think of all the people who have lost jobs or never been hired, all the kids whose parents sent them off to torture camps or rehabs they didn't need, all the relationships ended on false pretenses... all the awful things that have happened to people due to inaccurate drug tests.  It's considered a mortal sin to falsely accuse someone of rape or other sex crimes, but to wrongly accuse them of abusing drugs--which is also a crime--and do so with the help of a pseudoscientific test is accepted as perfectly okay?  It's time to ask yourself why.  Why do we passively accept this unfair nonsense from our lawmakers, employers, judges, medical providers and others in power?  Why aren't more people lawyering up when they incur negative consequences as a result of faulty drug tests?  Where is the pushback?  

These 12-panel urinalysis tests are no more accurate than a polygraph or e-meter, yet they're used to discriminate against people in court, in the workplace and in medical settings all across this country every day.  If authorities want to violate our privacy by testing our bodily fluids for the presence of substances ingested in the privacy of our home, they can cough up the money to send them directly to a GCMS or LCMS/MS lab & do it the right way.  I can personally attest that these tests are wildly inaccurate and ONLY work when your urine is highly diluted if you take multiple medications and supplements.  That is to say, the only way to avoid a false positive for street drugs like MDMA or PCP is to drink enough water that your urine is clear or nearly clear & voluminous enough to fill up the test cup.  




Ever had a false-positive drug test result?  How did it get resolved, assuming it did?  Love to hear about it in the comments.  Shit's getting old over here and there aren't even any real consequences for me--I feel terrible for those who are punished for somebody else's mistake.  (Something I have experienced plenty in life, just not with this).